Fear God

So far this year in my meditation-focused Bible reading times, I have read Psalm 93, Psalm 103, and most of Psalm 139. And because I spend so much time reflecting on a single verse, I've been able to almost inadvertently memorize these passages, which I just review when I blow dry my hair and sometimes in the car. I've never been very good at memorizing Scripture (well, not since they stopped giving me stickers for it), but this has come so naturally and it's been wonderful to be able to keep reflecting on the Scriptures when I have down time.

There are parts of Psalm 103 that, if I'm only kind of half-thinking about reciting it, I get mixed up. That's because three times it talks about "those who fear him." So it's easy to lead into the wrong next part when I get to one of those.

I remember as a kid being baffled by this whole "fear God" business. When you're a kid, fear only means one thing: being afraid. And I feared snakes, but not God. I loved God, why would I be afraid of him? I remember asking about this in 5th or 6th grade and learning that this kind of fear isn't the scaredy-pants kind, it is a reverence. Like the way Biscuit sometimes gets convicted after finding a dirty tissue and brings it to me as a confession of his sinful ways, rather than chewing it to bits. He knows he would get yelled at if he chewed it, but what he really wants is to make me happy. Because he has this profund awe and respect for me.

And if I can get that kind of respect, despite all my shortcomings, God deserves it so much more. Like, infinitely more.

So. Psalm 103.

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him."
"As a father as compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him."
"But from everlasting to everlasting, the Lord's love is with those who fear him."


Great love. Compassion. Everlasting love. These are the blessings (or "benefits" as the Psalm sets out to list) associated with fearing God. And—and this is just a thought—it might not even be that he actually loves those who fear him more. After all, he sent Jesus for everyone, and that was the greatest act of love. It might just be that by recognizing how small we are and how big he is, we are better able to glimpse his great love and compassion.